look my way
by coleytaylor
Summary: Never Have I Ever is played at an inter-house party, and something is revealed that Hermione would rather have kept secret.


**QLFC round 3 - truth or dare  
cannons, keeper: Write about a Truth being hidden from somebody OR write about a Dare that reveals somebody's true feelings.**

* * *

They get ready together. Hermione comes to Ravenclaw tower an hour before the party is supposed to start to help Cho pick out her clothes and do her makeup. It's just a regular party, something thrown together for the sole reason of it being Friday night, but sitting here on Cho's bed, giving her opinion on outfits, it feels like she's getting ready for the Yule Ball again.

"I think this is the one," Cho says, doing a spin to show off. She's wearing a little black skirt and a silver top, and Hermione's glad she has an excuse to give her a once-over.

Hermione nods her approval, and Cho smiles.

"Are you sure you don't want to borrow anything?" she asks.

"I'm okay," Hermione says. She's never loved dressing up.

"At least let me do your hair," Cho says, and Hermione relents. She turns on the bed so that Cho can sit beside her and lets Cho work her magic, pinning and tugging and coaxing Hermione's hair into a french braid. Cho's fingers are warm as they brush Hermione's neck, but it still makes her shiver.

"Done," Cho says.

Hermione turns around, and there Cho is, in her personal space. They look at each other; it's just a second too long, and Hermione stands up abruptly. It feels like she's done something wrong. Like her time doing Girl Things with a Female Friend is over, and Cho is going to kick her out.

Of course she doesn't. "Come on, let's go," Cho says, grabbing Hermione's hand.

* * *

The party is actually kind of fun. Warning bells go off in Hermione's head as the prefect in her takes in all the alcohol in the room, but she lets off the offenders with a dirty look. Of all the illicit things they've done in this castle, underage drinking is probably the least dangerous.

Hermione spends most of the time talking to Harry and Ron. She and Cho have been studying together this year, and it's really nice to have a close female friend, but that doesn't mean she has to cling to her side. It's bad enough that Hermione keeps glancing at where she sits across the room, talking to some other girls from Ravenclaw.

After half an hour, Cho walks up beside her. She and Harry exchange a sort of nod, and then she asks if they want to play "a Muggle party game!"

Hermione rolls her eyes, but follows her, sits beside her in a circle on the floor of various assembled sixth- and seventh-years from all four houses. Harry and Ron sit across from them.

Justin Finch-Fletchley clears his throat and waits for everyone to quiet down. "The game is called Never Have I Ever," he says. "You start with ten shots of Firewhiskey or Butterbeer. Whoever's turn it is says something they haven't done, like 'Never have I ever been to America,' and if you have done it, you take a shot. Last one standing wins. And," he smirks, looking way too pleased with himself, "unlike in Muggle Never Have I Ever, you can't lie. If you try to, your glass will glow red, and you'll be exposed anyway. Everyone point your wands at me," he directs. Apparently, the wizarding community cares a lot about their party games, because there's a spell that exists already that will guarantee their honesty for the next hour.

"I'll start," Justin says. "Never have I ever… cheated on a test."

Unsurprisingly, Pansy Parkinson takes a shot. Hermione's surprised she even deigned to play a Muggle game. So do Ernie MacMillan and Padma Patil, and Hermione has half a mind to report them. She's weirdly nervous about this game, on edge.

Malfoy goes next. He stares straight at Harry and says, "Never have I ever killed the Dark Lord when I was a baby." Maybe it's good that Malfoy is obsessed with Harry; it makes Harry's own fixation slightly less pathetic.

The next few people say things about travel, or school, or family. It's slow at the beginning, Hermione remembers from the one Muggle party she's attended.

It's Ron's turn. "Never have I ever kissed a guy."

Most of the girls in the room take a shot, and so do Dean and Seamus. Pansy rolls her eyes, and on her turn, she says, "Never have I ever kissed a girl," smirking at Ron.

Hermione has been dreading this moment for five minutes; she should have seen this coming when she agreed to the game, but it's too late now, and the magic is already pulling at her fingers. She takes a shot of Butterbeer and doesn't look at Cho, doesn't make eye contact with anyone. At least Dean and Seamus had each other.

If it were anything else, she would set her chin and scowl at anyone who gave her so much as a funny look. But it isn't anything else. Hermione can already feel the stares, hear the whispers. She waits as long as she physically can before leaving the circle, leaving the party altogether. Hermione goes back to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory and falls onto the bed, fully clothed.

It's almost a relief. Hermione's been hiding this fundamental part of herself for so long. Maybe if she were a different kind of girl she could have passed it off as "practice," the kind of thing that pretty girls do in teen movies, but she isn't. It's all out there now. Harry and Ron have known since fourth year, but Hermione never planned for Cho to know. The stereotype of a lesbian with a crush on her best friend is even worse when it's actually true.

The door opens, creaking despite the dozens of charms Hermione's cast on it over the years.

"Hermione?" It's Cho.

She sits up on the bed, makes eye contact with Cho like she couldn't at the party. "Are you here to tell me that we can't be friends anymore?" Hermione asks, faking a brusque indifference.

Cho frowns. "Hermione, I…." She sits down on the bed next to Hermione. Their knees are touching, and Hermione shrinks back like she's been shocked. "I like girls, too," Cho says, in a small voice.

Hermione doesn't know what to say. She's been keeping this secret for so long, and maybe she didn't need to be.

"I like girls," Cho says again, this time confident. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but I was afraid."

"How come you didn't..."

Cho blushes. "I've never kissed a girl."

"Do you want to?"


End file.
